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A Message from Russell...
This page contains ramblings of my foster parents on wombats in general. It also has links to stories and events of some of my other foster brothers and sisters who have been cared for by my foster parents...
Our Story
Wombats are one of the most interesting and misunderstood marsupials that live in the Australian bush - we can vouch for that from our own personal experience with raising and caring for Russell, as well as the other wombats we have cared for.
For most Australians, the first contact with a wombat is usually with one that has been hit by a car and left dead on the side of the road as we drive past. Most of us probably think, "Poor wombat. I bet that did a lot of damage to the car", and then ponder the expense of repairing the underbody of the motor vehicle, starting from the oil sump and working back through to the differential. When we witness such a waste now, we more often than not wonder what the wombat's personality was like.
Growing up in Australia, the general perception of the wombat is that it is a slow and dimwitted animal, albeit strong and stubborn. The literature of the time when I attended primary school (in the 70's) painted this picture and it's lasted with me through my adult life until now. Admittedly, this was probably due to a number of children's book authors who portrayed the wombat as a kind, but rather forgetful creature. Nothing could have been further from the truth. Wombats are s-m-a-r-t (about as smart as your average dog, if not smarter at times), and when inclined to, can move quite quickly (the current literature now suggests that they can run 100m in less than 10 seconds and up to 40km per hour when its necessary over short distances). One thing that sets them apart from dogs is that they can be very destructive (we are talking about digging and compromising the foundations of houses here!)
 Since we received Russell back in July 2000, my wife and I have learned a lot about caring for these animals (and we know that we still have a long way to go). When we first received Russell, there was only one other registered RSPCA Wildlife carer in Canberra who looked after wombats - and she was taking a well deserved break. So it was up to us (predominantly my wife who is the carer) to take care of Russell as best we could. Owing to the commitments in time, resources (and space) for caring for these animals, there aren't too many wildlife carers who can take on the responsibility of raising wombats or are in a situation where they can.
The RSPCA Wildlife staff provided a lot of good information, including weight and feed charts (which were available to us as carers), but there was still a significant amount of learning firsthand although one of the best sources of information was from the other registered carer (Barbara) who had raised many wombats over many years. Her input and information which she passed on to us was invaluable. We also scoured the Internet for information on wombats, and found that information and content varied widely. Some sites were brilliant, informative and original, whilst others were just copied pieces of text. We also noted that there were some sites that pilfered information and pictures from other sites. These didn't add any value, and in some cases, the information was incorrectly 'copied'. In the end, we found that most of the useful information was through books (see the Wombat Resources section on this site for some good information that we've found). Since then we have moved states and are now in New South Wales, having left RSPCA Wildlife (as they do not operate in New South Wales).
We also had to struggle to find these books as well - there aren't a lot of books available on the subject of wombats. There are a large variety on some of the other Australian native species (such as kangaroos), but when it came to wombats, we really had to struggle. It was mainly due to this simple fact that we decided to create this website to share our experiences, provide lots of photos, reference some information on wombats and provide other places to look for information.
One thing that you will not find on this site is specific information on the raising and rehabilitation of wombats. Whilst we do have this information available to us, we encourage people who would like to perform this task to join their local wildlife rescue organisation. Appropriate training and resources are available from these organisations to assist in the raising of wombats. We have heard of too many cases where people have tried to perform the task of raising a wombat themselves (with good intentions I might add) and have found this too onerous or difficult for a variety of reasons. The wombat is 'handed in' to a wildlife rescue organisation to finish raising and to a carer who will try and correct any problems that the wombat has developed. Normally this is too late and the only recommended action here is to put the poor creature down. Have a read of 'Daphne's Story' in the Pet Wombats section of this site.
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